Answers for "What props are useful for acting out a function machine for small kids?"https://naturalmath.com/community/questions/2045/what-props-are-useful-for-acting-out-a-function-ma.html
The latest answers for the question "What props are useful for acting out a function machine for small kids?"Answer by Maria Droujkovahttps://naturalmath.com/community/answers/2048/view.html
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Boxes with both ends open, or tubes (you can just tape paper into a cylinder) are more fun to use than a flat Function Machine drawn on paper.
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Heads up: young kids want a new function machine for every new function they make up, or you make up. For older kids, the same diagram or just the letter F can stand for different functions, and the same prop can represent different machines. Little kids won't like that, at least at the beginning. Later you can introduce a magic wand or a wrench that kids can use to change and modify your old function machine they already explored into something new and exciting. You can use a pencil to pretend-play that tool, or bring a strange-looking shop tool or utensil for your prop.
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Food you can slice, such as apples, works great for machines that cut things into halves or other pieces. Raisins are nice if the machine houses something like Purple-Tailed Raisin Eater, who always swallows two of the raisins that enter and no more.
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Playdough or soft modeling clay can create interesting machines. You can slice it, stretch it, squish it for a variety of 3D transformations.
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Small stickers or cards plus large markers can be props for coloring machines that turn everything that enters green, red, or polka-dotted.
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In general, think of machine rules ahead of time, and how you would pretend-play them!
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<img src="/storage/temp/345-messyroommathwonderland.jpg">
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We have several activities in the Moebius Noodles book, which also has some suggestions for prompts.
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<img id="351" src="/storage/temp/351-functionmachinesmoebiusnoodles.jpg">
</p>Wed, 15 Jan 2014 11:45:07 GMTMaria Droujkova